


Got Any Dreams Today?

by Atumun15



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged Down Characters, Day6 is there too, Fluff, Jeongin can be a bit dodgy in the beginning, League of Legends - Freeform, M/M, Oops, Open Ending, Seungmin is a bit awkward, Seungmin is big whipped too, Weird dreams, coffee shop AU, pls, there's room for a sequel, theyre still in school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-10 18:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19512442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atumun15/pseuds/Atumun15
Summary: “I do think you’re a bit odd, but I like that about you. You don’t try and be something you’re not and it’s refreshing. I really appreciate you and your wacky dreams.”





	Got Any Dreams Today?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bet of a mess and like so so so late but this is for my Best friend's, Saf's, birthday! 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy this really weird thing I wrote uwu

If Seungmin were honest, most of his personality fell from the dreams he’s had since he was six years old. 

They were never inherently _good_ dreams, but they weren’t _bad_ either. The same went for Seungmin himself. He wasn’t boring, but he wasn’t fun either. In fact, most people really only talked to him in middle school because they wanted to hear about his dreams. Seungmin was quite the phenomenon back then, but it only went downhill once they got to high school and everyone forgot about him. 

Seungmin really only had two friends: Chan and Jisung. Chan was his senior at his school, having grown attached after showing Seungmin around his first year, but now Chan was in college studying music and very rarely had time for Seungmin anymore. Jisung was Seungmin’s online friend from Malaysia he met over League of Legends his sophomore year and Seungmin could call him his best friend despite them only knowing each other for a year. 

Jisung was loud and kind of a mess, but he always listened to Seungmin’s fucked up dreams and Seungmin was thankful for that. In fact, Jisung always has the best reactions to Seungmin’s dreams, and Seungmin can vividly remember the boy gaping over a skype call when Seungmin described to him his ‘babies chopping carrots over water boiling in a pot made of dragon eyes’ filled dream before screaming his absolute head off. 

Seungmin loved Jisung, but he’d never admit that out loud. 

  


**Today : 03:12**

**TiddieMaster00: Good morning~**

**TiddieMaster00: Don’t forget to talk to ur counselor this morning bc I will kill u if I have to hear u complain about chem again.**

**Today : 06:23**

**KSM.0.0: I won’t.**

**KSM.0.0: and please for the love of god get RID of that name**

  


Seungmin sighed deeply, rolling over to tug on the string of his lamp and allowing a warm glow to span across the room so Seungmin could see what he was looking at. With shaky hands and a dry tongue across his chapped lips, Seungmin found his glasses and the bottle of water he kept on his bedside table, and practically chugged that shit down in one go. 

  
_Chan and his dumb fitness bullshit-_

A loud squeak bounced off the walls when Seungmin’s alarm sounded to life, Seungmin slapping down on the off button to the clock and sighing when he was met with silence again. Seungmin hated waking up so early, he could sleep for another hour if he wanted to, but if Seungmin didn’t get up sometime between 6 - 6:30, he found it incredibly difficult to function throughout the school day. 

Seungmin’s entire posture relaxed when his feet met the heated flooring beneath him and sighed in relief. He was glad his mother finally paid the heating bill, especially with it growing colder and colder as winter crept up on them. Seungmin should probably get a job if he were honest. 

He couldn’t think about this right now, Seungmin needed to shower and get dressed for school quickly. He found some money wadded up in a pair of old jeans, just enough to get a coffee from that really sketchy place near the school everyone claims to have the best coffee and Seungmin couldn’t _not_ go. 

Seungmin tried his best to be quiet, but he did end up making some racket. He held his breath for as long as he could, watching the door to his mother’s room expecting it to open but it never came and Seungmin finally let out a deep, shaky breath before sprinting to the front door, wet hair and all. 

Seungmin’s heart fell when he saw that it was raining outside and that he’d have to go back into the apartment and grab an umbrella and his bus card. _Fuck_. Seungmin tried his best to be quiet, he really did, but when he opened the closet and reached up to grab an umbrella from the top shelf, everything came falling back with it and Seungmin ended up standing there, hunched back with an arm full of miscellaneous items and breathing so heavily he could have been mistaken for a marathon runner. 

Yet, his mother stayed dead to the world and Seungmin began to carefully put everything away. 

(He totally didn’t do that thing where he held something in place until he shut the door and let it fall against the other side. That was someone else’s problem now…)

Soon, Seungmin was on his way, dead tired eyes and all, and didn’t hesitate to put his headphones in once he reached a crosswalk stop before he hit the bus entrance. Seungmin nearly cried tears for joy when the bus just arrived when he got there and could hop on without having to worry about wait times or listening for its arrival. 

But now he had to pay attention and make sure he got off at the right stop so he didn’t end up on the other side of town by accident and entirely fucked with no way of getting to school on time. Just the thought of it sent a shiver down Seungmin’s spine and Seungmin pulled out a headphone so he could properly listen to the voice over the intercom. 

Ten minutes later, Seungmin hopped off the bus, opened his umbrella, and waltzed toward the coffee shop a few blocks from the school and stepped inside. There were a few people already in there, but they looked like drug addicts or gang members, and suddenly Seungmin really didn’t want to be in there. But he saw a kid probably no older than him sitting in the corner with a cup of coffee and nothing else, seemingly staring off into the distance and off in his own world. 

Seungmin felt a little better, so ordered a coffee and fixed it himself, taking slow but steady sips to make sure he liked it before standing in the middle of the coffee shop with anxiety bubbling in his chest. Did he confront this kid? He didn’t even know who he _was_ and based on his uniform, he went to that fancy performing arts school that all idols go to and Jesus _did he smile?_

Seungmin’s worst nightmare (not that he actually had those) came to life when the boy looked up and met his eyes, his expression unchanging but his gaze flickered down to the seat in front of him and Seungmin took that as confirmation to at least _try_. So, the elder cleared his throat, shook his spare hand out and approached the table. The boy already sitting down looked up at Seungmin curiously, eyebrows raising up when Seungmin began to ramble. 

“Can I sit here? I know we don’t even know each other but I’m scared to sit alone because this place is sketchy and it’s 7 am. I’m really not looking to get mugged,” Seungmin muttered out all in one breath, and incredibly lucky that no one else heard him in that small coffee shop. “Please?” Seungmin squeaked out, and the boy with fox-like eyes just nodded his head and Seungmin pulled the chair out roughly. They both winced when the wood screeched against the floor, disturbing the peace in the room. “Sorry…” 

An awkward silence fell over them, both sipping on their coffee and trying their best to not make eye contact because every time they did, the already hot coffee burned their throats due to the fact that they nearly choked on it. 

“I’m Kim Seungmin,” Seungmin coughed out, offering the boy his hand. 

“Yang Jeongin.” Jeongin shook his hand politely and silence fell back over them. Seungmin pulled out his journal to make it a little less awkward and began to write down all the things he needed to do for the day, TALK TO THE DEMON HERSELF in big bold letters with multiple lines underneath it. He must have written it with such ferocity that Jeongin became curious. “Who’s the demon herself?” Jeongin questioned quietly, nearly scaring Seungmin out of his wits. 

“She’s not actually a demon. She’s actually really nice but my brain has developed her into this like bunny lizard creature in my dreams…” Seungmin started, gulping a bit when Jeongin’s eyebrows shot up in interest. “You know like… she has the skin and eyes of a lizard but she has bunny paws and huge front teeth… And she also speaks in a really squeaky voice…” Seungmin trailed off shyly. “I think I have a picture of it somewhere in here-” 

“That’s okay,” Jeongin quickly put up a hand, taking a sip of his coffee and looking rather dead inside. “I don’t want nightmares tonight.” And that was it. “What do you have to go talk to her about?” Jeongin questioned after a few moments, feeling slightly bad about Seungmin’s deflated body. He only swiveled around in his chair after that so he was leaning to his left instead of his right and still looked just as slumped. 

“They put me in Chemistry 2 this year instead of anatomy, and like… I sucked at chemistry and I still suck at chemistry and my friend threatened me that if I didn’t try and switch out he’d never talk to me again so…” Seungmin rubbed the back of his neck shyly when he realized he was rambling again. 

“Hm…” Jeongin nodded in understanding, taking a sip of his coffee and leaving Seungmin to his thoughts. Seungmin began to write down his dream from last night, so immersed in his thought process that he managed to block out the world entirely. This was something his mom and Chan wanted him to start doing in case there was ever a pattern in his dreams, something they could link to a mental problem that doctors might be able to look at, but it seemed Seungmin was just a little creative and they respected that. Seungmin didn’t stop writing them down though. He liked to share them with Jisung when they were up late at night after a few games of league and couldn’t sleep. 

In fact, he was so immersed that he nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone buzzed in his pocket and his wristwatch began to hum around his hand at the same time. Chan had gotten him a watch that linked directly to his phone and vibrated whenever he got a text so he’d snap out of it and talk to someone. 

Chan took care of him, and Seungmin would forever be grateful for that. 

**Today : 07:33**

**Chan in the building: You still at the coffee shop?**

**Seungmin in the building: Yea**

**Chan in the building: Hang tight. I’m gonna walk you to school this morning. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.**

  


Seungmin slid his phone back into his pocket, ignoring the curious glance Jeongin spared him as Seungmin tucked himself away back in his journal. Seungmin tried his best to ignore how cute this guy was, resting bitch face and all. Seungmin wondered what he looked like when he smiled…

Seungmin was snapped out of his thoughts ten minutes later when the watch around his wrist hummed again and Seungmin slowly put his journal away when he turned and saw Chan hovering outside with his dark wild curls sticking out of the edges of his beanie, face mask pulled up just right under his eyes, and covered in a thick hoodie and… is he wearing _shorts_? “This fucking animal,” Seungmin muttered under his breath, earning a huff of what Seungmin hoped was amusement from Jeongin. “It was nice meeting you, Jeongin,” Seungmin nodded in his direction politely as he slung his bag over his shoulder. 

“You too, Seungmin.” 

Seungmin left after that, walking through the front door after dropping off his mug at the washing station and approaching Chan. “Are you wearing shorts? _In October?_ ” Seungmin shrieked, kicking at Chan’s exposed legs for emphasis and Chan groaned, leaning down to hold his leg while glaring up at the younger. 

“You’re so mean to hyung. I thought I raised you better than this-” Chan grunted, and Seungmin let out a shriek when Chan locked an arm around Seungmin’s neck and pulled him down far enough to burn his knuckles into the top of Seungmin’s head as the two walked toward the school. Seungmin felt anxiety bubble in his chest at the looks the received from others.

“You didn’t raise me!” Seungmin shrieked, pushing himself away from Chan’s grip and putting a few feet between them. 

“I basically raised you,” Chan retorted, waggling a finger in his face, “You’d definitely be dropped out or still in your first year of high school if it weren’t for me,” Chan snickered and the worst part is that Seungmin can’t even argue with that because it’s true. Chan really kicked his ass into gear. 

“I will not confirm or deny,” Seungmin grumbled, earning a coo from the elder and a pinch to cheek. The two made small talk on the way there, Seungmin asking how college was going and Chan making sure everything was okay at home. Seungmin nearly choked on his own spit when Chan brought up Jisung though. 

“Also… did you give your friend my number? He texted me at like three in the morning last night asking what kind of milk I preferred and then got angry when it wasn’t banana milk.” _Damnit Jisung._

Seungmin sighed, rubbing at the back of his head. “Jisung is crazy good at acquiring things he shouldn’t. I wouldn’t think about it too much for the sake of your sanity,” Seungmin recommended and Chan frowned. 

“It doesn’t really bother me because he’s kind of cute in that weird endearing messy way, but now I’m just scared,” Chan muttered and Seungmin choked on his own spit again. 

“ _No._ ”

“What?” Chan whined, looking a bit gobsmacked at the younger’s sudden displeasure.

“ _Hyung you are not dating my friend,_ ” Seungmin uttered firmly and Chan just pouted, mouth falling open into a small ‘o’ as he waved his arms around. 

“All I said was that he was cute!” Chan defended himself but Seungmin’s eyes fell into a squint. 

“You only call people you’re interested in cute, hyung.” 

  
“And how do you know that?” Chan crossed his arms over his chest defensively and Seungmin groaned, knocking his head back.

“You never call me cute-” Seungmin started but was quickly cut off by Chan. 

“That’s because you’re a literal demon.” 

“You don’t call Minho cute,” Seungmin attempted to silence the man, and Chan gulped in submission. Minho was Chan’s college roommate that Seungmin only met a handful of times but anyone could look at him and think ‘cute’ but not Chan. No. Chan didn’t use cute unless it was someone he liked or found interest in. “the only person I’ve ever heard you call cute was BamBam.” 

“Shut up, Seungmin,” Chan grumbled and Seungmin huffed, but pumped his fist in the air to show his happiness of success. “Besides, you know I don’t have time for a relationship. College work is practically falling out of my ass at this point.” 

“That was not a mental image I needed or wanted, hyung.” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever,” Chan retorted, and the conversation ended there as they finally reached the front gates of the school and the two turned to look at each other. “Don’t forget to talk to your counselor and don’t stress out so much you forget about lunch. If you forget about lunch I’ll come over and cook for you,” Chan threatened and Seungmin looked at him with horror evident in his expression. So much food…

“Alright, alright, no need to do anything too rash now, hyung…” Seungmin laughed nervously, but Chan just stared at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. When the five-minute warning bell rung out, it cut them out of their trance and Seungmin jumped up. “Bye hyung! Have a good day!” Seungmin waved before dashing up the stairs, down the hallway (only slowing down to a really fast speed walk when teachers yelled at him to not run) and made it to class with one minute to spare. He was getting good at this. 

Lunch came around what felt like days later, and Seungmin gulped heavily as he stood in front of the main counseling office. Staff and students came and went, sparing Seungmin odd looks and even words of concern a few times. He must have hovered out there so long that his counselor ended up coming out through the guidance doors and sparing Seungmin a pout. “Hello, Mr. Kim, what can I do for you?” She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Seungmin gulped, fidgeting once, twice, three times before he sighed and walked away from her, not even answering the poor staff, Seungmin knew he would never be able to look her in the eye ever again. It was over. Seungmin was going to suffer this year because he couldn’t even talk to a teacher. “Seungmin you fucking idiot,” Seungmin scolded himself, beating a fist against the side of his head lightly as he tried his best to ignore the looks he received from other students. 

No one was ever mean to Seungmin, and he didn’t want to give them a reason to be, but he definitely wasn’t helping his case by acting like this. So, Seungmin kept his hands clutched to his chest and kept his head down and mouth clamped shut. Seungmin didn’t say a word to anyone and no one said a word to him for the rest of the school day and Seungmin was thankful for that. He didn’t particularly enjoy talking to people he didn’t know.

(Jeongin was an exception)

  


Seungmin was a little interested, he’d admit that much, but a little interested didn’t call for Seungmin waking up at the same time the next morning and walking to the coffee shop in hopes of finding the younger. (he definitly didn’t steal some money from Chan the night before to pay for the coffee either… nope) A little interested definitly didn’t call for the way his happiness peaked when he saw the boy sitting in the same spot as before. It felt like a repeat of yesterday with the way the same sketchy people sat on the other side of the cafe and Jeongin shot him a curious glance when Seungmin sat down with a fresh cup of coffee.

“Morning,” Seungmin greeted quietly, trying his best to not come off too excitable and freak the younger out. Jeongin took a sip of his coffee while waving sleepily, eyes trained on the book he was reading at the time. Seungmin pulled out his sleep journal and attempted to find a pencil but groaned when he couldn’t find one.

“What?” Jeongin questioned quietly, sounding a bit grumpy and Seungmin flushed a bit at the expectant look in Jeongin’s eyes when Seungmin looked at him. 

“Do… Do you have a pencil?” Seungmin questioned shyly. Jeongin didn’t even make an expression or sound as he leaned down to sift through his backpack to pull out a mechanical pencil for him and Seungmin brightened. “Thank you!” Seungmin bowed his head politely and took the pencil from Jeongin to use. The younger simply nodded his head and went back to reading. 

The thing about Seungmin when he wrote was that sometimes when he became a little too entranced in what he was writing, he began to say everything he wrote down out loud. This tended to annoy a lot of people, and teachers have long since learned to put him somewhere else during timed writings for essays so he didn’t disturb the other students with his odd habit. 

Seungmin hated that habit, and if he had known he was saying everything out loud, he would have left right then and there. But Jeongin didn’t say anything, only watching Seungmin with a foreign feeling stirring in his stomach as he watched the boy speak about his dream from the night before. “His head was covered in fishes... from the top of his scalp to the bottom of his neck… but I swear underneath… that he was nothing but bone and rubies for eyes…” Seungmin kept trailing off, pausing between parts of his sentences as he scribbled hastily. 

The dream wasn’t morbid, just odd. 

“He offered me cupcakes on a platter made of... shell, but the icing looked as if it were the sand on the bottom of the ocean. The sight of it… made me incredibly sick to my stomach…” Jeongin breathed through his nose in amusement, eyes still cast down at the book in his hands. Seungmin didn’t notice. “The woman wearing a dress of butterflies… attempted to shove the cupcake in my mouth but... I smacked it away and screamed as I ran in the opposite direction. I ended up running into Jisung but he was just one big giant mushroom- He’s gonna love that later,” Seungmin whispered the last part to himself, smiling shyly at the notebook. 

“Who’s Jisung?” Seungmin let out a sharp yelp at the question, Jeongin frowning slightly at him in concern. Seungmin flushed a little bit and rubbed at the back of his neck. 

“My best friend…” Seungmin explained with a smile. Jeongin nodded slowly, eyebrows furrowing in thought. 

“Is that the guy that picked you up yesterday?” Seungmin flushed, not thinking Jeongin was as observant as he was. 

“I… no. Jisung lives in Malasia actually. That was Chan that picked me up. He’s like an older brother to me,” Seungmin hummed, teeth setting around the side of his pencil before he could stop himself. But once he realized, he somehow flushed an even deeper crimson and took the pencil out of his mouth. “I’m so sorry…” 

Jeongin simply waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got plenty so just keep it,” Jeongin remained unbothered, flickering his eyes back down to his book and Seungmin stared at him in shock. “Also, tell Chan to not wear shorts with a hoodie in the fall… That’s definitely not healthy,” Jeongin muttered suddenly and Seungmin laughed a bit, nodding his head. 

“He’s from Australia so he’s a bit…” Seungmin trailed off, twirling his finger pointed at the side of his head and crossing his eyes. It earned him just the slightest smile from the younger, revealing dimples and much lighter eyes than before and Seungmin felt like he had been thrown into one of Chan’s choke holds at the sight of it. 

Pained, but unbearably giddy all the same.

They didn’t say anything else after that and Seungmin was perfectly okay with it too. Seungmin was all for sitting in comfortable silence and enjoying the other’s presence until it was time to leave. “See you tomorrow?” Seungmin inquired shyly when they both stood up at the same time and slung their backpacks on. 

Jeongin acted as if he were weighing the idea. “I come here every morning, so I suppose,” Jeongin hummed, offering the elder a soft smirk, and Seungmin flushed, nodding his head shyly before practically sprinting out through the front door. 

  
  


“Seungmin, you just met this kid and you’re already talking as if you’re in love with him,” Jisung gruffed out over the discord voice chat, mouth obviously filled with food if his muffled speech said anything at all and Seungmin rolled his eyes, stuffing another chip into his mouth. 

“You’re delusional,” Seungmin muttered, setting the bag of chips down on his desk by his mouse before launching League of Legends and sitting back. Jisung made a practical inhuman noise, the same one when he was about to rant Seungmin’s absolute ear off. 

“ _I’m delusional?!_ ” 

“Here we go…” Jae muttered in the background as Dowoon laughed loudly, Seungmin laughing breathily under his nose when Jisung began to screech in a high pitched and quick manner that would be incredibly hard to bear if Seungmin hadn’t heard it so many times before. 

“First of all! I may be young and a bit dumb sometimes but I swear to _god_ I’m more intelligent than you,” It was true. “Second of all! I am in no way delusional about this fucking-”

“Language,” Jae quickly butted in with a scowl, mouth no doubt full of ramen as well but Jisung just sputtered, not expecting to get interrupted so soon. 

“Shut _up,_ hyung,” Jisung sounded ready to tear his hair out and Seungmin couldn’t stop laughing, “I am no way delusional about this _freaking_ situation and you wanna know why? Because I know you and I know how your brain works and you fall way too easily, you sensitive ass bitch,” Jisung huffed, breathing heavily by the end of it and the other three boys couldn’t stop laughing. Jae didn’t even bother scolding the younger for swearing either. 

“Third of all-” 

“ _Jisung no_ ,” Seungmin groaned loudly, flailing back in his chair with a squeak and a few more laughs from the eldest two of their little team. Jisung sighed, stuffing his mouth with a bit more food but ultimately dropping it to allow Seungmin to speak. “I’m just a little interested is all. He’s… alluring but not in a lustful way? I’m just a little intrigued is all. Besides, I met him two days ago. I’d just like another friend is all.” 

Silence fell over them all, and Seungmin realized he had hit a bit of a sore spot. With Jisung living in Malaysia, Jae in California, and Dowoon in Busan, they didn’t actually get to see one another and it was always a bit disheartening. Despite the age difference between them, they got along really well and it was just a bit… _sad_. They were the only thing Seungmin had aside from Chan and they knew it too. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make things solemn,” Seungmin sighed, throwing a ball up in the air over and over again as they waited for a match for them. 

“It’s alright, kid, don’t worry about it,” Dowoon reassured. They all brightened considerably when they were finally paired with a match and began to pick their champions. “Jisung, I swear to the holy gods above that if you pick Lissandra again I’ll murder your ass in your sleep,” Dowoon hissed so suddenly that the only thing the others could do was laugh nervously. Dowoon didn’t get angry often, but when he did, it was scary. 

“I’m not, I’m not! I’m doing Teemo,” Jisung persisted and everyone sighed in relief. “Jae hyung… are you playing _Nami_?” Jisung sneered a bit but Jae scoffed in protest. 

“Nami is perfectly fine! She’s both support and offensive so fuck off,” Jae huffed. “Also… I got the program skin and it looks so sick I can’t resist.” 

“If we lose this match I’m entirely blaming it on you,” Jisung sighs, rubbing at his eyes in dismay. 

“At least he didn’t pick lux like Dowoon hyung did that one time,” Seungmin pointed out in thought and Dowoon groaned loudly. 

“It was one time!” Dowoon cried out, earning a contagious laugh from Jae. “Just pick your champions! Jesus!” 

The four settled in rather quickly, Dowoon picking Kassadin and Seungmin picking Katarina. It didn’t take long before they had finally spawned in the arena and ready to play. 

  
The thing about them was that they didn’t necessarily take it seriously, they just got really intense really quickly. Curse words flew around without another thought as that tended to be the only thing said during the matches unless someone was being dumb and then the rest would start screaming. The only thing really heard was the sound of key smashing and the aggressive clicking of their mouses before a knock came at Seungmin’s door halfway through their game. “Dowoon! Stop dying!” 

“Shut up! It’s been a while since I’ve played this champion!” Dowoon screamed back at Jae, Seungmin’s ears ringing a bit at the volume. However, that didn’t stop Seungmin from hearing Chan step inside with a soft greeting. 

“Hey, Channie Hyung,” Seungmin greeted, attention somewhere else as Jisung began screeching in his ear. 

“Chan’s there?!” Seungmin just ignored him. 

“Hey, Minnie,” Chan approached him from behind, hovering over his shoulder and making Seungmin a bit nervous as Chan studied the match in front of him. Chan used to be really good at this game, he was the one that introduced Seungmin to League actually, but Chan stopped playing not too long after. Chan soon stopped watching though, laying back on Seungmin’s bed with one elbow propped up and texting on his phone. 

Seungmin ignored his existence for a little longer until Jisung was obviously not completely focused and Seungmin heard a little “Jesus, Jisung,” from Chan behind him as he stared at his phone and Seungmin was _not_ having it. 

“Jisung! Stop flirting with Chan! We have a match to win!” Seungmin screeched so loudly that everyone startled a bit, and Chan nearly fell off the bed out of embarrassment. 

“I’m not flirting!” Jisung whined, getting back into the game to appease the younger. 

“Are you sending him memes?” Seungmin interrogated, knocking down a tower and cheering a bit to himself internally. 

“...No.” 

“You’re a liar, Jisung! You’re sending him memes and that’s your form of flirting!” 

“Don’t expose me like that, man!” Jisung groaned, and silence fell over them again, too infatuated with the game to really notice the way Chan was having a crisis behind Seungmin.

Thirty minutes later, and the match was over, and they had officially won, cheering a bit as Seungmin melted back into his chair, arms slung over the top and letting the heavy feeling of both exhaustion and accomplishment ooze out of his chest to recharge before the next round. However, before he could pick a champion for the next round, Chan grabbed him by the shoulder to get his attention. 

“Go take a shower. I’ll step in,” Chan offered. 

“W-Wait! Seungmin, don’t-” Seungmin peeled off his headset to give to Chan as he stood up from the chair, successfully ignoring Jisung as the two traded places quickly. Chan fell back into position with ease after a few awkward moments of fumbling, and Seungmin just watched with wide eyes. Seungmin just watched with fascination because Jesus was this man a god? He was taking out the opposing team’s champions one by one while also focusing on the towers and _was he farming now_? 

Seungmin knew he was going to get an earful from Jisung later just as he did last night. 

On his way to the shower, Seungmin picked up his phone when it dinged, smiling playfully at the screen. 

  


**Today : 23:19**

**IttyBittyTittyCommittee: I hate u so much.**

**IttyBittyTittyCommittee: I hope u die in a pit of fire.**

  


Seungmin just laughed. 

  
  


The next morning, Seungmin wasn’t really up for much talking, and it must have shown on his face when he walked through the cafe with an empty gleam in his eyes. Seungmin got like this sometimes when he had been too excitable or emotional for days on end, and now his body needed to rejuvenate. Seungmin really wished that didn’t have anything to do with sleep though. 

Any other day, or any other person, Jeongin would have left them alone to sleep, but every time Seungmin rested his cheek in his palm and began to doze off, Jeongin would snap his fingers in front of Seungmin’s face to wake him back up. That soon started to not work anymore and Jeongin resorted to getting up and asking for a glass of ice from the lady at the counter and dropping a cube right down the back of Seungmin’s uniform. 

Seungmin hopped up and out of his seat with a shriek, nearly knocking Jeongin down to the ground in the process. “What the fuck!” Seungmin hissed, earning a dirty look from the elders in the cafe and bowing to them as an apology afterward. It didn’t take long for Seungmin to turn back to Jeongin with a scowl though. 

Jeongin simply crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged his shoulders with the smuggest expression Seungmin had ever seen. 

“You’re a demon,” Seungmin huffed, squirming uncomfortably once he got the ice cube out from underneath his uniform. Jeongin snickered a bit, sliding back into the booth and motioning for Seungmin to sit back down. 

“You need to stay awake. You have school soon,” Jeongin hummed as if he were a parent and Seungmin grumbled. 

“I swear you’re younger than me. What year are you?” 

“2001.” 

“Ha! That makes me your hyung,” Seungmin smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Jeongin groaned, rolling his eyes. 

“What year even are you, _old man?_ ” Jeongin clicked his tongue and Seungmin gaped. 

“Disrespectful brat! I’m a proud 2000 liner,” Seungmin hummed with a prideful smile. 

“We’re practically the same year, I shouldn’t have to call you, hyung,” Jeongin argued but Seungmin quickly shook his head and pulled out the pencil from his journal he took from Jeongin yesterday. 

“If you don’t call me hyung, I’ll stab you in the eye with this pencil,” Seungmin threatened playfully, waving the pencil around in the air but Jeongin grabbed it and ripped it out of Seungmin’s hand before the elder could even register what was going on. 

“What are you gonna do now?” Jeongin taunted, eyes glimmering with something Seungmin hadn’t really seen before and it made him stutter a bit in shock. He stood there, hovering over the table now stood up and just… staring at the beaming boy on the other side of the table shrunk back and clutching the pencil close to his chest. _God, this kid was cute_. “Coward.” 

That snapped Seungmin right out of it and he shot forward, attempting to take Jeongin into a choke hold but the younger dodged him, pleading for Seungmin to stop and when the lady behind the counter yelled at them, they sunk back down in their chairs with smiles and panting a little bit. Jeongin was practically beaming that morning, and it was entirely contagious. At the start of the day, Seungmin could barely form words, but now he wanted to talk his absolute head off. 

“Did you ever speak to your counselor?” Jeongin questioned, taking a sip of his coffee and easing back into his usual casual nature and Seungmin felt his heart calm down when Jeongin’s bright smile dropped into a tiny satisfied curve of his lips. However, his satisfied expression dropped into one of irritation when Seungmin answered. 

“Um… not exactly,” Seungmin rubbed at the back of his neck and Jeongin kicked him in the shin under the table. “Ow! Fuck! What’s your deal today?” 

“You need to talk to your counselor, hyung before it’s too late and they can’t pull you out of classes,” Jeongin scolded, taking another sip of his coffee and Seungmin huffed. 

“So demanding…” Seungmin muttered but raised his hands up in the air when Jeongin shot him an irritable look. “I’ll talk to her, I promise.” Seungmin sighed, rubbing at his eyes in exhaustion and Jeongin hummed in satisfaction. 

After that, Seungmin pulled out his journal and began to scribble down his dream from the night before, and this time, Jeongin didn’t snoop despite the one part of him that really, really wanted to. However, Seungmin began speaking again, and this time it was directed toward Jeongin as Seungmin stopped writing and just stared down at his notebook. 

“I think my brain likes the idea of a human being taken over by an animal but in like… the ugliest way possible,” Seungmin said in a manner that definitely meant that Seungmin was having a crisis. Jeongin’s eyebrows shot up in curiosity but began to squirm in discomfort. 

“Like… a furry?” 

Seungmin flushed, “No! God no! Like… Kind of like a mermaid! Or a centaur! But instead of their faces being human, they’re the animal part and they have human legs and arms. Think of a shark with a shark body but it has muscly legs and arms coming out of it.” Jeongin had never been more disturbed in his life. 

“Hyung… I think that’s somehow a lot worse…” Jeongin trailed off with an unsure tone, and the elder weighed it for a moment before yeah… yeah, it was probably a lot worse. 

“Sometimes I forget that other people don’t deal with the same level of weirdness on a daily basis as I do…” Seungmin trailed off and Jeongin hummed. 

“Honestly, you’re the weirdest person I’ve met and I go to _an art school_ ,” Jeongin admitted, crossing his arms over his chest as Seungmin gasped in horror. 

“Now that’s just rude! Not all art kids are weird,” Seungmin defended them despite the fact that Jeongin was actually quite correct. Every art kid Seungmin had the… _pleasure_ of meeting were all pretty weird. 

“You know I’m right, Hyung. Stop being so stubborn.” 

“I will not give in, Satan,” Seungmin’s nostrils flared, slowly packing away his journal once he realized time had passed considerably fast and Seungmin really needed to start walking to school before he was late. “I should get going though. See you tomorrow, Demon.” 

“Don’t forget to talk to your counselor!” 

  
  


And what good that did. When Seungmin went to sit down and talk to her finally a few hours later, she told him she couldn’t pull him out of the class and that the time period for that had ended. They’d have to go through tons of paperwork to go through with it and Seungmin didn’t deem it worthy anymore. He’d just have to convince his mom to be a little more lenient with his grade this time since he was struggling so much. 

“That’s wack, they shouldn’t have a waiting period for that stuff,” Jisung huffed through the phone. The two were face timing, Seungmin curled up in bed with a pillow cuddled close to his chest that covered half of his face and Jisung laying on his stomach in bed, hair messy and cheeks fluffy. Seungmin wished he could poke them in person. He wished they could have these talks in person. 

Seungmin couldn’t help but realize how much better life would be if Jisung was here with him instead of all the way in Malaysia. “I mean, it makes sense in the long run. Imagine how chaotic it would be if they were flipping kids around in classes in the middle of the year… teachers would have a damn fit,” Seungmin sighed, watching Jisung run his hand through his hair in frustration. 

“Man, I don’t wanna listen to you complain about that class all year,” Jisung whined, and Seungmin just rolled his eyes. 

“Oh please, you’ll be okay. It’s not as if you don’t have Chan hyung to rant about or anything,” Seungmin scoffed, and that must have flipped a switch in Jisung’s head because then the elder was picking himself up off of the bed, pulling the phone with him and a scowl tugged onto his features. 

“I’m still mad at you about last night by the way,” Jisung huffed, climbing completely off of the bed and sitting at his desk as he powered up his computer. 

“Ji, you and Chan hyung have been talking over text, what made a game of league over discord such a big deal?” Seungmin questioned with a pout. 

“Everything!” Jisung waved his arms around in the air for emphasis. “I’m a mess, Seungmin! You should know that! I can be smooth over text because he can’t see or hear me! Talking to a practical god both in looks and in league skills over a game I’m a noob at is not how I wanted my night to go!” Jisung whined. “God, he probably thinks I’m a loser.” 

“Shut up, he thinks you’re cute,” Seungmin snapped, laughing a bit at the way Jisung froze up completely. 

“Sorry what?” Jisung shrieked, dragging the phone up to his face so the only thing on Seungmin’s screen were Jisung’s eyes, eyebrows, forehead, and messy mop of hair. Truly a sight for sore eyes. “When? Where? Why? Tell. Me. Everything.” 

“You’re insane-” 

“Answer my questions, Kim!” Jisung barked, and Seungmin sputtered a bit. It had been a while since he had seen Jisung like this. Jesus these two were whipped and it had been _three fucking days_. “Shut up! You’re not any better with Jeongin!” Oops, must have said that out loud. “Yeah, no duh, dipshit.” 

“One more insult and I won’t tell you a damn thing, Han Jisung,” Seungmin threatened, and Jisung gasped, expression changing into that of a pleading one with ease. 

“What? No! I’m sorry my sweet dear Seungmin, I love you~” Jisung sang out, and any other day, Seungmin would have snarled his nose up in disgust and told Jisung he hated him, but not tonight. 

“That’s better,” Seungmin cooed, earning a scoff from the elder but he didn’t hold out when Jisung looked like a little kid on Christmas. “It was the day I met Jeongin and you had texted him the night before. He was a bit concerned on how you found his nightmare but he said he didn’t mind it too much because you were cute in a weird, messy endearing way. He never calls anyone cute,” Seungmin explained, stomach churning in happiness when he saw Jisung’s eyes light up. 

“R-Really?” 

“Aw, is Jisung being all shy?” Seungmin cooed teasingly, and Jisung scoffed again. This was a very common occurrence between them. Seungmin couldn’t go five minutes without hearing it at least once. 

“Shut up, Seungmin…” Jisung trailed off, thumb in his mouth and eyes locked on his computer screen. Seungmin could see the giddiness in his eyes. “Has… Has he said anything else?” 

“He kept gushing about how good you were at league last night once we all got off discord. He literally laid there for five minutes talking about your league skills alone.” It was kind of annoying actually. Especially since Seungmin was just trying to get some good old fashioned Chan snuggles in. Jisung let out a tiny squeak, burying his face into his hands and ruffling his hair. 

“I think I’m in love,” Jisung swooned, and Seungmin was far from amused. 

“You dramatic bitch, you met him three days ago,” Seungmin snapped, but Jisung just pivoted his head up and raised his hand in the air to pull a Shakespeare pose. 

“Love knows no bounds, Seungmin!” 

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Seungmin, don’t you dare-” 

Seungmin hung up. 

  
  
  


“Did you talk to your counselor?” Jeongin hummed out of nowhere. A few days later, a Friday to be exact, and Seungmin was absolutely _stressing_. He had a test Monday and he was just barely grasping the material. It wasn’t enough to pass though, and he was becoming so overwhelmed and frustrated that he couldn’t help but snap when Jeongin asked. 

“Yes, I fucking talked to her.” Jeongin didn’t even flinch at Seungmin’s harsh tone, and somehow that was even _more_ worrying. Was he used to that kind of aggression? Seungmin really hoped he wasn’t. 

“And?” 

Seungmin deflated, dropping the pencil and running his fingers through his hair. “She couldn’t move me without a bunch of paperwork. The waiting period was over so I missed my chance,” Seungmin explained quietly, heart stuttering a bit at Jeongin’s frown when Seungmin glanced up to look at him. 

“I could tutor you if you want. I’m pretty good at chemistry,” Jeongin offered and Seungmin looked at him as if Jeongin had told him he’d pay him a million dollars just for breathing. 

_“Really?”_

“Sure,” Jeongin shrugged. “We can meet tomorrow and Sunday if you’d like…” 

“Yes!” Seungmin practically shrieked, but cleared his throat when he realized how enthusiastic he sounded, “I mean… sure, if that’s okay with you,” Seungmin uttered quietly, leaning his head down so he was twiddling his thumbs in his lap. Jeongin just hummed, studying Seungmin fondly. 

“Okay, just meet me here around noon and I’ll bring you my notes. Does that time work for you?” Seungmin eagerly nodded his head and Jeongin smiled the softest grin he could manage and Seugmin felt his heart speed up considerably at the sight of it. “Stop looking at me like that!” Jeongin whined, and Seungmin flinched back, flushing a bit as he cast his eyes downward. 

“Sorry…”   
  
A few beats of awkward silence passed between them before Jeongin spoke up. “It’s alright… don’t apologize. It’s just intimidating is all,” Jeongin reassured gently, and Seungmin felt younger than he was compared to this kid. Seungmin hated it. “Got any dreams today?” Jeongin quickly changed the subject and Seungmin eyed him with such intense shock, Jeongin wondered if he had fucked up to a certain degree. “What?” 

“I just didn’t really… I figured you didn’t… No one ever wants to hear them except for Jisung and sometimes Chan,” Seungmin stuttered, not looking Jeongin in the eye. 

“They’re a bit… _odd_ ,” Jeongin started but continued quickly when he saw Seungmin’s face fall. “But they’re the best parts of my day. Your dreams make them significantly less boring, so I like hearing them… but you didn’t get that from me,” Jeongin winked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. 

“That’s… new,” Seungmin breathed, his cheeks somehow flushing an even deeper crimson then before and Seungmin flinched a bit when he heard Jeongin laugh through his nose in amusement. Seungmin really hoped this wasn’t some sort of joke, a big plan to humiliate Seungmin. 

_He didn’t even know you before Monday_. 

_Yeah, but what if he saw how weird you were and now he’s trying to just be mean._

_Be fucking rational, Seungmin._

“Hyung?” Seungmin snapped his head up, meeting Jeongin’s concerned gaze and tiny pout and Seungmin panicked. _Please don’t pout, please don’t be sad, show that beautiful smile of yours_. “You okay? You zoned out there for a minute.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Seungmin stuttered, tapping his hands against the table as he tried to think of what he dreamed about last night, “Just kind of tired. My brain is everywhere else,” Seungmin stalled, but Jeongin simply hummed and nodded his head, giving the elder time to collect his thoughts. “I think you were in it this time actually.” 

Jeongin almost choked on his coffee, wheezing slightly as he slammed his fist against his chest and set the cup of coffee on the table in front of him. “What are you doing dreaming of me, hyung?” Jeongin tried to play it off as smoothly as possible with a dopy smirk and a slumped posture, but Seungmin found it endearing nonetheless. 

“It was far from pleasant if I’m honest, Jeongin,” Seungmin shrugged mindlessly and it made Jeongin perk up in interest. 

“Tell me! You can’t dream of me and not tell me what happened!” 

  


_Pink, purple, and green stars glimmered above their heads beautifully that night, masked by a red and blue sky that kept just about everyone on their toes. It didn’t help that the large moon was split in half as well with its red and blue sides opposite to the red and blue of the sky. The sky was always Seungmin’s favorite parts of his dreams, they were always the prettiest thing to see._

_Seungmin was in the artic, ice pick shoes firmly stuck into the ice underneath him and Seungmin felt like he could feel the chill just from looking around the barren mountains. Not too far in front of him was a mountain range, but it wasn’t just any mountain range, the large monstrous structure was made of pure, see-through ice. Seungmin could vaguely make out figures swimming and floating about within the ice._

_With careful footsteps, Seungmin approached the structure to get a better look but froze when he heard and felt rumbling from behind him. Seungmin curled his head back to look at the sight behind him, eyes widening considerably when he saw nothing but 100s of glistening snow foxes barreling toward the structure in the distance. Seungmin let them all pass, flinching back a bit when one of the last ones stopped, turned toward him and began to trail back to the human. When it’s little sharp teeth nipped and tugged at his pant leg, Seungmin got the message and followed the pack of foxes with the other one walking side by side._

_Seungmin gaped at the large ice structure in front of him, eyes flickering down tot he foxes that escaped into the material as they morphed into…_ mermaids _. They had little fins for ears, sharp teeth, and tails three times the length of a human’s body, and yet they swam with so much grace and integrity, that it intimidated Seungmin to an extent._

_When the familiar tug at his pants occurred once more, Seungmin peered down to the fox that had pulled him along originally, and once the little fox knew Seungmin’s attention lingered on it and it only, the fox jumped into the ice and transformed into the same mermaid as the rest of them, but when he turned to look back at Seungmin, the elder’s breath caught in his throat. It looked exactly like Jeongin, and the content smile the mermaid held was almost identical as well._

_Seungmin couldn’t help but reach out toward the glass when the mermaid did as well, but when his fingers began to slip through the ice and graze with Jeongin’s webbed ones, Seungmin suddenly fell backward into the ocean beneath the surface and fell until all he could see was the black void and the lingering memory of Jeongin’s face._

“Wow… That’s intense, and not as disturbing as I thought it was going to be,” Jeongin admitted, eyes transfixed on the table in front of them. It was true. 

“I think that might be the prettiest dream I’ve had in a while,” Seungmin added, shyly rubbing at the back of his neck in hopes that maybe Jeongin wouldn’t ask too many questions. 

“A pretty dream for a pretty boy,” Jeongin cooed, hooking his hands underneath his chin and smiling widely to reveal braces and Seungmin’s heart fluttered. 

“Let’s not get too cocky here, Innie,” Seungmin grumbled. 

“Innie?” Jeongin pivoted his head to the side much like a dog, but his eyes glimmered with playfulness and lips quirked up into a smirk. 

Seungmin’s eyes widened, scared he might have overstepped. _They were barely even friends_. “S-Sorry, It just kind of slipped-” Seungmin froze up when Jeongin reached over the table and placed his hand on top of Seungmin’s, patting it lightly. 

“It’s alright, hyung. I don’t mind,” Jeongin reassured, standing up from the booth and grabbing for his backpack to swing over his back. Seungmin felt all the blood rush to his face when Jeongin rounded his back and leaned down to mumble the next few words right by his ear as he felt around in Seungmin’s bag to pull out his journal. “Don’t forget to write all that down.” 

Seungmin was done for, really.

  
  


The next day, Seungmin came barreling into the cafe with wide eyes and panicked breaths almost 30 minutes after the designated agreed time. Seungmin breathed heavily, hands resting on his aching knees as he hunched over to catch his breath, and all he could hear was Jeongin trying his best to keep his laughs inside. Seungmin lifted his head up slowly, reaching out a finger as if he were an old man pointing at a kid to get off his lawn, “be quiet, demon.” 

Jeongin let out a small laugh, clapping his hands like a seal with a smile so wide it seemed like the human embodiment of :D. “You’re late,” Jeongin chimed the moment Seungmin sat down with a cup of iced tea. Seungmin groaned. 

“I know, I’m sorry. I lost track of time this morning,” Seungmin rubbed at the back of his neck, a habit obviously, and spared the younger a nervous smile, Jeongin just shrugged. 

“It’s alright. I’m meeting someone here around 2 though, so we’ll have to stop a little bit before then,” Jeongin shrugged, but Seungmin just nodded, hoping the disappointment stirring in his heart didn’t appear on his face at all. If Seungmin was just slightly disappointed that he had to cut his time short with Jeongin, that was his own business. “I like that sweater,” Seungmin complimented, tilting his head toward the white sweater over what looked like a red, black, and white button-up with the collar sticking out. Jeongin looked soft, he looked _cute_. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Jeongin beamed a little, and Seungmin couldn’t help but notice how much happier and lively Jeongin seemed today. But then Seungmin remembered that they saw each other at the crack of dawn every morning so of course, Jeongin wouldn't be the most energetic when it _wasn’t_ noon. 

Now, the difficult problem when getting tutored by a really cute guy is that it’s incredibly difficult for Seungmin to focus. He was always pretty good at paying attention except for Chemistry, and now that there was a cute guy teaching it to him? Seungmin wouldn’t be able to comprehend anything thrown at him today because all Seungmin would be able to do is stare at the way Jeongin’s lips moved. 

“Hyung, are you paying attention?” Jeongin suddenly snapped, and Seungmin flinched, darting his gaze up from where it stayed locked on Jeongin’s lips to the younger’s irritated eyes. 

“S-Sorry-” 

“Hyung, I can’t help you if you don’t pay attention,” Jeongin scolded, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, and Seungmin slumped down in his chair with a pout and arms crossed over his chest. After that, Seungmin managed to get his brain in check, and he found that once he did, it was far more beneficial for him in the long run. Jeongin was a much better teacher than his actual chemistry teacher, and Seungmin almost felt bad about it because he knew he wouldn’t stop bothering Jeongin this year because of it. 

But soon, their tutoring session came to an end when someone came in and yelled out Jeongin’s name. The two snapped their heads around, and Seungmin felt his stomach drop when he saw the prettiest boy he had ever seen hovered by the doorway and Jeongin’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Seungmin shrunk back the slightest bit when the stranger approached their table and spared Seungmin a bright smile with even teeth. 

Seungmin didn’t have a chance against this kid. 

“Hi! You must be Seungmin. I’m Hyunjin. Jeongin’s told me a lot about you,” Hyunjin beamed, and Seungmin froze. _What?_ “You sound very interesting, I hope this won’t be the last time we speak.” Seungmin’s thoughts swirled along with the feeling of betrayal in his heart. Did Jeongin tell him about Seungmin’s dreams? Did Jeongin talk about him a malicious manner behind his back? _Has Seungmin been drug through the mud again just for a good fucking laugh?_

Seungmin’s breath hitched in his throat, hands working sloppily but quickly as he crammed all his work back into his backpack before standing up. “I-I should g-go,” Seungmin stuttered out, not even looking at the youngest across from him. 

“Hyung-”

“It was nice meeting you, Hyunjin,” Seungmin sputtered, bowing at a ninety-degree angle before storming out of the cafe and praying to the gods above that they didn’t see the tears pooling in his eyes. All Seungmin could do was harshly wipe away the tears rolling down his cheeks as he ran down the street and fumble in his pocket for his phone. It took a bit, but Seungmin managed to call Chan, the elder picking up after the fifth ring.

_“Minnie? What’s wrong?”_

Seungmin just sobbed, finding the nearest wall and leaning up against it, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He could hear Chan panicking over the line. 

_“Minnie, I need you to breathe okay? Can you show me where you are?”_

Seungmin’s lungs burned, and he could barely even see what he was looking at as he took the phone back from his ear to send Chan his location. 

_“Okay, good, Stay right where you are, Minnie. Do you want me to stay on the line, talk to you?”_

Seungmin made a noise that vaguely resembled a no and shook his head frantically. 

_“Do you wanna talk to Jisung?”_

“...Y-Yes…” 

_“Okay, I’ll get Jisung.”_

And then Chan hung up, and Seungmin slumped back against the wall. Seungmin was so fucking tired of people playing games with him. This had happened one too many times, kids attempting to become friends with him just for the sake of a good laugh with their other friends, and then abandoning Seungmin so he was alone once more.   
  
Seungmin always thought he found a friend when in reality he found another hellish experience that surely wouldn’t be the last. 

It didn’t take long for Seungmin’s phone to buzz aggressively in his hand and Seungmin hesitated for the slightest moment to pick it up but would be forever grateful that he did anyway. 

_“Hey, baby, before we start, just know you don’t have to talk. Do you want me to just distract you with a story?”_

Seungmin whined lowly, and Jisung took that as a yes, and began to tell Seungmin about his day and what happened earlier that morning when someone threw a peach cup at him and soaked him from head to toe and it only started a food war in the dining hall. Any other day, any other time when Seungmin could coherently think for himself without feeling like he was going to pass out, he would have scolded Jisung. 

But Seungmin’s lungs still burned, his stomach still twisted, and the tears never once ceased from gushing down Seungmin’s swollen cheeks. “Hey, are you okay?” Seungmin snapped his head up, coming face to face with an unbearably familiar triangular face that Seungmin just _couldn’t_ identify. “Hey, dude,” The stranger frowned but he didn’t look irritated, just concerned. Seungmin slowly lowered the phone, fearful of what could come out of this situation. 

“I-I-I-” Seungmin gulped, but soon trailed off weakly with “I don’t…” 

The man in front of him cursed quietly under his breath, pulling his sleeve down over his hand so he could reach up and gingerly wipe away the tears on Seungmin’s face. “Okay, let’s stop crying first and foremost. I need you to breathe, focus on me,” The man tutted, his ghostly touches guiding Seungmin into a position where he was forced to look at the stranger and the way he breathed. Seungmin followed the rise and fall as best as he could, but it was just so difficult. 

“I c-can’t,” Seungmin hiccuped and the man looked around. There were too many people here for him to calm down, and they both knew it. Seungmin didn’t fight it when the man took his phone from his grip and began to speak into it. Seungmin escaped back into his brain after that, only snapping out of it when the man began to speak to him softly again. 

“I’m gonna take you to the arcade, alright? Your friend knows where you’ll be and you need to go somewhere less crowded to calm down,” the man uttered and placed a hand between Seungmin’s shoulder blades to guide him down the street and toward the arcade. It felt like Seungmin was swimming in a fish bowl the whole way there. 

As soon as they stepped inside, the shorter man guided Seungmin into a chair behind the front desk and grabbed bottled water they kept on the shelves underneath for him. 

“Drink some water,” The man uttered, opening it for him and handing it over to the younger. Seungmin gulped and nodded, nearly draining the water all in one go but stopping when he began to cough harshly and the man grabbed the water with a soft laugh. “Slow down, bro. I only have so many of those and I don’t need you drowning from _a water bottle_ ,” the shorter snorted, and Seungmin nodded, apologizing profusely. “You don’t need to apologize.” 

Silence draped over them as the man leaned back against the counter with his ankles crossed over the other and arms crossed across his chest. The man looked stable, firm, and exactly what Seungmin needed at the moment, but Seungmin didn’t want to get his hopes up again. 

They didn’t speak until Seungmin calmed down a bit and was simply sniffling and clearing his throat of his original state. Seungmin felt exhausted. “Can I ask what made you so upset?” 

“It’s stupid, don’t worry about it,” Seungmin muttered, bowing his head so he didn’t have to look at the elder. Seungmin flinched when the man bent down so he was squatting in front of Seungmin, his hands resting on his knees and stroking the sides of them with his thumb. An embarrassed crimson flooded Seungmin’s cheeks when the man reached up and nudged Seungmin’s head up by the chin with the ghosted touch of the side of his finger. 

“Just because you think it’s dumb doesn’t mean it is. Tell me.” The man insisted as he stood up, hopping up on the counter so he could swing his legs and be comfortable as Seungmin spoke. 

“I… there’s this person,” Seungmin started, taking his bottom lip between his teeth and the man motioned for Seungmin to continue with a nod. “We met like a week ago and like I thought we could be friends ya know because I have these dreams that tend to scare people off but he stayed and wanted to listen, but his friend came into the shop before you found me and said ‘you’re a very interesting person’ and it just reminded me of all the times people abandoned me because there’s always a fucking ‘but’ after that damn phrase and-” Seungmin stopped, hiccuping and heart beating wildly. 

The man swung his leg out so his shoe touched Seungmin’s knee, “Breathe, kid,” The man urged, taking deep breaths for Seungmin to mimic and Seungmin followed them to the best of his ability. 

“I really liked him. He was nice to be around… but now that I know he’s been talking about me I’m scared. I’m tired of being the fucking laughing stock. I just want a friend.” Seungmin let his eyes fall to his lap again, taking ragged breaths in hopes of calming himself down. He was getting too worked up again. 

“Well-” The man started, but didn’t get to finish due to the very familiar blond man bursting through the doors of the arcade and looking around wildly. 

“Seungmin?!” Chan called out, and the younger stood up roughly, grabbing the elder’s attention easily. Chan breathed out in relief when he saw him. However, his eyes flickered over to the man beside Seungmin and his eyes boggled too. “Changbin? Since when did you work at the arcade?” 

Oh. 

_Oh._

This was Chan’s and Minho’s Changbin, the one Minho had a thing for. _Right_. “Like back in July? I remember telling you that, hyung,” Changbin’s brows furrowed, a small pout on his lips and Seungmin cooed a bit internally. Chan blinked once, twice, three times before he turned his attention back to Seungmin. 

“Come on, Minnie. Let me take you home and you can tell me what happened over a movie,” Chan uttered softly, holding an arm out for the younger to take. Seungmin rounded the counter and melted into Chan’s side, sparing Changbin one last look before they left the arcade. “Thanks, Changbin! I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

“See ya, Chan. It was nice meeting you, Seungmin,” Changbin winked with a small smirk and Seungmin nodded toward him as if he were saying ‘you too’

After that, Chan took Seungmin straight back to the boy’s apartment, greeting Seungmin’s mother with a polite bow and then a hug before guiding the younger to his room and onto the bed. CHan shut the door behind them as Seungmin took off his hoodie and curled up and under the covers, burying his face into the pillow in hopes of getting the exhausted heavy feeling in his chest to go away. 

“Do you want to talk about what happened, Minnie?” Chan murmured, laying down beside Seungmin and tugging him into his chest. Seungmin made a noise that sounded like a ‘yes’ “Do you want me to call Jisung so you don’t have to explain more than once?” Chan added on, and Seungmin nodded his head weakly. “Okay, Minnie,” Chan cooed, running a hand through Seungmin’s hair as he scrolled through his phone to facetime the younger. It didn’t take long for the chubby-cheeked boy to pick up looking worried out of his mind. 

“Did you find him?” Jisung’s panicked voice rung out through the room and Chan hummed, holding the phone in an angle that didn’t make him look like an absolute toad. 

“One of my close friends found him, Changbin. That’s who you spoke with on the phone. We’re back at Seungmin’s house now though and he’s gonna tell us what happened,” Chan explained as he climbed into bed beside Seungmin, worming his way behind the younger and curling his legs around Seungmin’s hips when he sat up. The two leaned against the wall, Seungmin’s head resting on Chan’s shoulders and legs propped up so he could hold the phone between his knees. 

“Are you okay, baby?” Jisung questioned once he saw the younger’s state. Seungmin’s eyes were bloodshot, cheeks not only pale and swollen but tear-stained, and his lips were bitten raw. Seungmin looked so far from being okay, but Jisung thought he’d ask anyway. 

“I’m better than I was…” Seungmin croaked, voice hoarse and cracking halfway through his sentence, but felt his chest lighten when Chan reached around to rub soft circles into his tummy. Seungmin may not have had many friends, but at least he had two amazing best friends that treated him well. 

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” Seungmin did. He spilled his heart out for nearly an hour due to the continuous breakdowns he kept having between sentences and Chan tried his best to calm him down as Jisung waited patiently for the boy to calm down. 

“Seungmin, honey, maybe you just misunderstood what was said. Jeongin may not have been speaking to you in a negative light at all,” Chan hushed quietly, rubbing small circles into Seungmin’s stomach. Seungmin sniffled, once, twice, three times before Jisung finally spoke up too. 

“It is a possibility, Minnie. I highly doubt he would talk about you like that. He seems different,” Jisung added in, lips jutted out and eyes wide with worry. Seungmin felt bad for making them worry about him. 

“Who says ‘you sound like a very interesting person’ to someone they’ve heard about positively?” Seungmin muttered bitterly, burying his cheek into the front of Chan’s shoulder and the elder wrapped his arms a little more tightly around the younger, feathering a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Maybe the other guy is just very awkward with words…” Jisung trailed off with a squeak, earning a loud groan from the youngest of the three. 

“He was literally perfect! You should have seen him,” Seungmin whined, pouting cutely and Chan and Jisung shared a look. 

“Time for a stalking session,” Chan grunted, grabbing the phone and closing out of facetime so Jisung couldn’t see their faces as they pulled up Instagram. Seungmin typed in Jeongin’s name, his profile luckily on public so Seungmin could properly look. His aesthetic was cute, but a bit jumbled. “Aw, wait, is this him?” Chan cooed as he tapped on a selfie, careful to not double tap as Seungmin clutched the phone tightly so it didn’t drop and they end up fucking up by accidentally following him or liking a photo. 

Seungmin’s heart stuttered when he saw the boy smiling cutely and poking his dimple, black face mask pulled down underneath his chin and hair falling into his sharp eyes. “Yes…” Seungmin whispered shyly, attention fully focused on the phone in front of him. Chan cooed in his ear. 

“What? I want to see! Screenshot it!” Jisung whined loudly and Seungmin huffed, taking a screenshot of the photo and sending it to Jisung within just a few seconds. They heard his phone vibrate before he began screeching, “Oh my god he’s so cute! I want to pinch his cheeks!” Jisung squealed and Seungmin glanced up at Chan with an exhausted expression. Chan just grinned fondly. _Idiots…_

Seungmin went back to Jeongin’s profile, scrolling a bit before he came upon a very familiar face and gasping loudly. “That’s him! That’s the guy!” Seungmin rumbled, clicking on the guy's account and cheering silently when he saw he was on public too. Chan eyed the selfies with interest. “Jisung this is the guy that I met today.” 

He heard Jisung gasp, “Holy _fuck_ , he’s hot.” Seungmin slumped a little bit. 

“He’s attractive I will admit…” Chan trailed off carefully, and Jisung just scoffed. 

“Stop lying to yourself, Channie hyung. You think he’s cute,” Jisung grumbled and Seungmin rolled his eyes when Chan went back to the facetime to look at Jisung. The younger flinched back a bit. 

“I think _you’re_ cute.”

“Hey! No flirting when I’m having a crisis!” Seungmin screeched, earning a laugh from the other two. 

“I wouldn’t try and over think it anymore, Minnie. Go back to the coffee shop and ask him about it,” Jisung frowned, resting his cheek on his fist. Seungmin nodded slowly. 

“Yeah… you’re right,” Seungmin trailed off with a whisper, clicking the follow button on Jeongin’s page, heart beating wildly in his chest. 

**_Yang_IN_01 followed you back!_ **

  
  


The next day Seungmin went into the coffee shop a few minutes earlier, seemingly much more put together with his light washed jeans, converse and large brown sweater over a white button up, but he was anything but. Seungmin’s heart wouldn’t stop beating so fucking quickly, and he twitched more than he should have, but could anyone blame him for being nervous?

Sure, Seungmin got jittery over practically everything that was slightly out of his little bubble, but confrontation? That was on a whole other planet for him. 

His jitteriness only got worse when the bell chimed to the door and Jeongin rounded his side in a pair of overalls and a bright yellow hoodie. Seungmin shoved his hands under his thighs and rocked back forth as he tapped his toes against the floor and wouldn’t look Jeongin in the eye. “Hey, hyung…” Jeongin trailed off carefully, frowning when Seungmin flinched a bit. “Are you okay? You kind of ran out yesterday and you looked pretty upset,” Jisung questioned, worry evident in his tone. 

It was almost enough for Seungmin to look up at him and just ask. 

‘Almost’ being the keyword there. 

Instead, Seungmin just sat there gaping like a fish at the younger and Jeongin only grew more concerned as time passed. “I-I’m fine!” Seungmin stuttered out, laughing nervously and ripping one of his hands from under his thighs to nibble at his thumbnail. Jeongin observed him, obviously not believing the elder but didn’t push it anymore. 

Instead, they both got out their notes and Jeongin began to teaching Seungmin about the content Seungmin needed to know for the test on Monday. However, when Jeongin was in the middle of explaining different types of solutions, Seungmin just… couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “When you add oxygen to-”

“Did you talk to Hyunjin about me?” Seungmin blurted out without another thought, gulping anxiously when Jeongin stared at him in concern. 

“What? I mentioned you and your weird dreams but I didn’t…” Jeongin cut himself off, realizing what Seungmin was asking him and his face softened considerably. “I didn’t talk bad about you behind your back, Seungmin. I pinky swear,” Jeongin giggled, offering the elder his pinky after a sincere reassurance and Seungmin took it hesitantly. It felt like they had just sealed in their friendship and Seungmin had never felt giddier. “Is that why you were awake so late last night? You look like you didn’t get any sleep…” 

“It wasn’t the outright reason so don’t feel guilty or anything - that is if you do feel guilty of course - I was just up late last night playing with Jisung and-” 

“Hyung,” Jeongin interrupted Seungmin gently, a fond smile tugging at his lips and eyes twinkling with delight. It made Seungmin’s heart race even more. 

“Sorry…” 

“Don’t apologize, it’s alright,” Jeongin reassured with a wave of his hand, but Seungmin didn’t miss the curiosity bubbling in the younger’s eyes when his head cocked to the side. “How did you meet Jisung? Since he lives in Malaysia and all…” Jeongin questioned out of curiosity and Seungmin flushed. 

“We played a lot of games of League of Legends together, and we became so familiar with each other that we just started talking. We exchanged discords and the rest was history. We just clicked very well,” Seungmin grinned from ear to ear, heart skipping a beat when Jeongin eyed him. 

“So are you two…” Jeongin trailed off, pushing his fingers together to demonstrate what he was trying to get across. Seungmin flushed deeply. 

“No! No!” Jeongin let out the tiniest breath of relief, but the way he slumped and flickered his eyes told Seungmin that maybe… and just maybe! Seungmin had a chance. “But like it’s not _not_ an option because we’re boys!” Seungmin laughed nervously, “Like I- We’re-” Seungmin blubbered for a moment, nearly choking on his own spit when Jeongin reached over and took his hand into his own. Seungmin couldn’t believe he was telling Jeongin this. “I”m gay,” Seungmin whispered, only loud enough for Jeongin to hear and the boy smiled shyly, flickering his eyes down to the ground. 

“I am too… Well, I’m not sure. I’ve liked a few girls but… mostly boys,” Jeongin whispered the last part so no one else heard and those words felt like music to Seungmin’s ears. 

“I… that’s good. That’s very good,” Seungmin breathed out, panicking a bit at the implication but Jeongin just giggled and shook his head. When a tense silence fell over them, Jeongin finally spoke up with one hand cupping his cheek and the other tracing small shapes into the slightly sticky wooden table. 

“So league huh?” Jeongin smiled cheekily. 

“You play?” 

“Main Elise,” Jeongin hummed tapping against the table now. 

“Well… my team has been looking for a fifth… if you’re interested this is my discord,” Seungmin boldly pulled out his phone, screenshotted his discord ID and sent it to Jeongin’s Instagram DMs. 

“I’ll have to take you up on your offer sometime.” 

  
  
  


“Okay you fucking idiots, I just sent him an invite to the chat so act fucking normal or I’ll fly to your houses and beat the shit out of you,” Seungmin cursed far too boldly for being the youngest of the four already there, especially when they can ruin him at any point that night, but no one can really blame him. 

“Alright, alright, chill out, dude,” Jae tutted, but soon joined Dowoon and Jisung in on their laughter. It took two minutes for Jeongin to join the voice chat, but when he did… Seungmin knew this was a mistake. “Ah! You must be Jeongin. What’s up, dude?” 

“Hi!” Jeongin greeted cheerfully, “I know who Jisung is, but I’m afraid I don’t really know the rest of you. Mind introducing yourselves?” Jeongin hummed cutely, but instead of getting introductions, he received a scandalized gasp from two of them. 

“Seungmin, you don’t talk about us?!” Dowoon screeched, obviously offended but a mouth full of food took away the impact he might have had on the younger. 

“What is there to talk about?” Seungmin deadpanned, earning giggles from Jeongin that made Seungmin’s heart race and screeching laughter from Jisung that made Seungmin’s ears hurt. 

“Haha!” Jisung teased the other two, snorting loudly afterward. Jeongin just giggled some more while Seungmin just stared down at his lap. 

“Listen here, Kim. You better be careful or I’ll tell him everything-” 

“Tell who what everything?” Jeongin shyly questioned when the voice chat when quiet and Seungmin let out a yelp. 

“Nothing! Nothing! Don’t worry about it!” Seungmin laughed nervously, coughing harshly when he accidentally choked on his own spit. 

“Jesus, min, you’re a mess tonight aren’t you?” 

“Shut _up_ ,” Seungmin groaned. 

“Anyways, I’m Jae, I’m definitely your hyung so have some respect, and I live in California!” Jae suddenly broke through, and Jeongin gasped. 

“Like LA?” Jeongin questioned in excitement and Jae hummed in confirmation. “Isn’t it like… opposite time zones for you?” 

“Oh yeah, I have class in like two hours so I can only be on for two and a half.” Seungmin could practically hear Jeongin’s mouth opening and closing in confusion, but the youngest didn’t ask more questions. 

“I’m Dowoon and I’m from Busan-” 

“YOU’RE FROM BUSAN?” Jeongin screeched in perfect Busan dialect and Jisung groaned loudly. 

“No~ Another one?” 

“That’s Jisung by the way,” Seungmin stated casually, taking a sip from the Redbull on his desk. “Also, Jisung can you do me a favor?” 

“What?” Jisung grumbled. 

“Can you text Chan and ask him to tell Changbin thank you for yesterday? I don’t have my phone on me,” Seungmin questioned, hearing the crinkle of a bag before Jisung spoke up, a bit muffled. 

“Sure. Don’t even have to ask, I’ll always text that absolute angel of a man,” Jisung gushed, and the other four groaned loudly, even Jeongin. Seungmin had told Jeongin of Jisung’s little crush on Chan before, and he was already a bit tired of the two. 

One minute later, Seungmin’s door suddenly burst open, a very intimidating Bang Chan staring in the doorway. “Fucking excuse me?” Chan hissed, and Seungmin let out a blood-curdling screech when Chan suddenly appeared and began to approach him. “You stop by there yourself and tell him! No one appreciates a second hand thank you!” Chan scolded, taking Seungmin into a headlock, knocking the headset off of his head, and burying his knuckles in Seungmin’s scalp. 

“Ow! OW! Hyung please!” 

“Should we be concerned?” Jeongin questioned quietly. 

“Just let it happen.” They all uttered at once. 

“Hey, Seungmin…” Jeongin trailed off shyly a few hours. Now it was just them, Jisung having gone to bed, Dowoon to work at his night job, and Jae to class and Seungmin had never felt more relaxed. 

The two were curled up in their desk chairs, watching an anime together, and were in the middle of transitioning between episodes when Jeongin spoke up. “Hm~?” Seungmin sleepily acknowledged him, sipping on the hot chocolate in his hand. 

“When Jae first spoke to us earlier… like when I first joined the chat, what was he talking about when he threatened to spill everything to someone?” Seungmin froze up, nearly choking on his hot chocolate. Jeongin only listened in worry, finger fidgeting between his lips nervously. A nervous habit of his. 

Silence draped over them thickly, and when Seungmin never answered, Jeongin began to jump into a rant. 

“Was… was it about me? Hyung, do you…” Jeongin trailed off, fear evident in his tone. “God, I’m probably reading this wrong but Hyung do you see me as more than a friend?” Jeongin just laid it all out on the table, wincing when he heard Seungmin made an inhuman noise of distress before sighing and setting the mug down on his desk. 

No more being afraid. “I do,” Seungmin uttered softly, and Jeongin’s chest swelled with both disbelief and giddiness. “I know we haven’t known each other long at all, but you really intrigue me… I’d like to get to know you better and then take you out on a date when we’re more comfortable around one another,” Seungmin stammered out. “But I understand if you don’t see me that way and-” 

  
“I’d like that, hyung,” Jeongin admitted shyly. “I’d like that a lot.” 

“You don’t think I’m weird, do you?” 

Jeongin laughed quietly. “I do think you’re a bit odd, but I like that about you. You don’t try and be something you’re not and it’s refreshing. I really appreciate you and your wacky dreams.” Seungmin flushed from head to toe. 

“That makes me really happy to hear, Jeongin.” 

“Anyways, got any dreams today? You fell asleep at the cafe before I could even ask this morning-” 

Seungmin felt like he could breathe again. 

[[Moodboard](https://twitter.com/atumun15/status/1147176531963326464?s=20)]


End file.
